heart-wrenching

[ hahrt ren-ching ]

/ ˈhɑrt ˈrɛn tʃɪŋ /

causing or involving great sadness or distress; heartbreaking: The accounts of their persecution are heart-wrenching.

Origin of heart-wrenching

First recorded in 1835–40; heart + wrench + -ing²

heart-wrench·ing·ly, adverb

Dickens was a master of heart-wrenching pathos because he felt every pain as he wrote.

How Dickens and Scrooge Saved Christmas |Clive Irving |December 22, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Minors are some of the most heart-wrenching cases of police shootings.

Worse Than Eric Garner: Cops Who Got Away With Killing Autistic Men and Little Girls |Emily Shire |December 4, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
And throughout her interview, Maynard stresses the importance of her family during this heart-wrenching time.

The Beautiful Newlywed Who Made the Right Change Its Mind on Physician-Assisted Death |Samantha Allen |October 10, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
And I really wanted to make him be the best father in the world, to make that a really heart-wrenching moment.

The ‘Maleficent’ Screenwriter Also Wrote ‘The Lion King’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ |Kevin Fallon |June 1, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

The powerful images served as a heart-wrenching reminder of borderless humanity and the reach of social media.

The Man Syria’s Jihadists Want Dead |Patrick Hilsman |January 30, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Yes, of course, Frank and I were having this heart-wrenching discussion about the right thing to do.

Warren Commission (9 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15) |The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
Meanwhile, I was too choked up after the last heart-wrenching scene to get up and make a speech.

The Mind Digger |Winston Marks
Timmy was heart-wrenching enough by himself, but I've had to watch the change in you in the past few months.

The Short Life |Francis Donovan
He had had enough heart-wrenching to bear as it was without that.

The Sky Pilot in No Man's Land |Ralph Connor